Eight miners were found to be alive on Wednesday morning, though they have been trapped underground for five days afters a gypsum mine collapsed in Pingyi county, Shandong province, according to the rescue command center.

Rescuers detected the miners by using infrared cameras to peer into darkness through a 17.8 cm diameter hole drilled by the Shandong Bureau of Coal Geology.

A mobile phone was sent to the miners through the hole.

Gao Guangwei, deputy director of the National Administration for Work Safety Emergency Response, who is heading the technical group at the rescue command center, talked to one of the eight on the phone and found that the men are OK. They have been provided with food, and rescuers are working to drill two more holes, according to the rescue center.

The gypsum mine collapsed at 7:56 am on Friday, trapping 29 workers. As of press time, one miner was dead, 11 had been rescued, the eight were located underground and nine remain missing.

Four leaders of Pingyi county, including Party chief Feng Chengxiu and county head Liu Chunbo, were dismissed on Tuesday following several accidents this year.

Ma Congbo, president of Yurong Commerce and Trade, which owns the mine, drowned himself by jumping into water in the mine after assisting rescue teams on Sunday.

New leaders of Pingyi county are already on duty.

The Shandong provincial government issued a notice ordering all gypsum mines in Linyi, which administers Pingyi, as well as two neighboring cities, Zaozhuang and Tai'an, to suspend operations and perform safety checks.

Gypsum mines with annual output under 300,000 metric tons will be closed by the end of 2015. Iron mines that produce less than 150,000 tons each year, gold mines that produce less than 40,000 tons and clay mines that produce less than 50,000 tons will also be closed, local authorities said.

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